


The night before Christmas

by rickywrites



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Book 3: Fire (Avatar), Christmas Eve, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, Mid-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28329678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rickywrites/pseuds/rickywrites
Summary: 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the palace, not a creature was stirring except Zuko and Mai.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 38





	The night before Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for mentions of Ozai's abuse.
> 
> It's Christmas today, and I wanted to write some Christmas ship fluff. Maiko came to mind, and it ended up turning into more.

Zuko is the only one still up on Christmas Eve.

It’s nearly midnight. He sits on the couch where they usually sit together, this time with no servants or company. Mai considers just leaving him be, letting him sit with his thoughts. 

Maybe he’s fine, she thinks as stands above at the top of the staircase. She twirls a strand of hair around one finger, the way she does when she lies.

Zuko puts his head between his hands. It’s then that she notices that he hasn’t even changed out of the Fire Lord garb. When he slumps over, the exaggerated pointed shoulders droop limply to either side.

Oh boy. One of those nights.

Nothing has been the same since that summer, only about four months ago now. Of course, they were glad they had won – they wouldn’t be around to have feelings about the war either way if they hadn’t.

Zuko’s first orders as Fire Lord had been to release the prisoners of the Hundred Year War, and in a turn of events that to this day didn’t seem real to Mai, that included her.

She didn’t regret it. She made her choice. Azula made her own.

Zuko made a choice that day too, and it wasn’t until Mai was the one behind bars instead of him that she understood it. Why he would leave her for people he’d just met.

She didn’t regret her choice. But she did regret the fallout. She didn’t want the old world back, but she missed how simple her relationships had felt before they were tossed into a war.

He found his way back to her as soon as he could once it ended. He could barely walk. Neither of them had known what to say to each other, but they found their way into a comfortable silence. She helped him get steady enough on his feet to appear before the people of the Fire Nation the day he took the throne. Now, they spent most of their free time just sitting and being without the threat of the end of the world hanging over their heads. She liked it best when they could be alone together with their silence.

Mai clears her throat and breaks the uneasy quiet of the parlor. Zuko doesn’t move from the couch, but she sees him freezes in place. His elbows may as well have been glued to his knees, his fingertips to his messy hair.

“Relax, Fire Lord,” she teases. “It’s just me.”

“Mai.” It almost sounds like a question, a plea, and her brows furrow at the strained sound of his voice.

“Zuko.” She drops the joking tone and steps lightly down the stairs, aware of how bizarre she must look coming into the palace parlor in her pajamas.

Mai takes a seat beside Zuko on the plush red couch at the center of the room. She can’t help but think that it’s a little odd that for all the gold and silk in the room, there are hardly any decorations. A string of tinsel sprawls lifelessly around the doorframe. Outside the wide windows, a few stars take their place in the deep blue of the sky.

“I had a feeling you’d still be up.” She takes his hands one by one, easing them from the sides of his head. “Talk to me, Zuko.”

He raises his head and looks across the room to the window instead of meeting her gaze. He takes a deep breath and holds it there. As he tries to find the words to say what’s wrong, it starts to feel like he can’t breathe anymore. Like he can’t let it out.

It’s almost imperceptible, but Mai notices. It’s what made had her so dangerous on the battlefield, and so caring now. She lays a hand on his shoulder and just barely shakes him.

“Hey. I’m here. You don’t have to tell me what’s going on right now, but I’m ready to hear it whenever you’re ready to tell me.”

Zuko lets his breath out slowly, shakily. It’s a little scary for Mai. She hasn’t seen him like this since…

“It’s not what you’d think. Well, not as much as you’d think.” Zuko grimaces and smacks his left hand to his face. “I’m not making any sense.”

“You’re right.” She takes her hand off his shoulder and jabs him in the side playfully. He lets out a little puff of air, almost a laugh. The closest she’s seen to a smile on him all week. “So try again. It’s okay.” 

Zuko turns towards her on the couch and lets his hand fall from his face. “I know being Fire Lord is a lot of pressure and all, but it feels like a lot less thanks to the people around me.”

His eyes find their way from the window into Mai’s. She smiles gently, and for a moment he smiles back. But he falters, the look weakens, and he has to break away and look to the floor.

“It’s that it’s the first Christmas since the war ended, isn’t it.” She isn’t asking. Between the lack of decorations and the gloomy attitude leading up to the holidays, she’d had a feeling.

“Yeah.”

Mai hesitates before she responds. She tucks another strand that’s come loose back behind her ear, twirls it a bit first. “If you want, we could see about seeing Azu-”

Zuko raises a hand sharply. “You don’t want that. Not really. This is about you, too.”

She can’t find anything to say to that. He’s right.

He realizes how abrupt the gesture was. He didn’t mean to cut her off like that. He doesn’t want to be the kind of person who talks to the people he loves that way, doesn’t want to be like...

He instead takes her hand, which has been resting on her temple above her ear.

“And besides,” he continues, “it’s still too soon. I don’t think she’ll even say a word to me yet.”

That’s also true.

“I want to be okay with her, and with him, and with all of it someday. I really do.” Zuko takes another deep breath but doesn’t hold it this time. “But I think for now, I just need something in between.”

Mai’s gaze softens before she realizes what he might be saying. Her eyes narrow. “Is that what this is to you, Zuko?”

“What?” He blinks, confused.

“Am I just something to go between now and then?”

When he doesn’t answer, she starts to get off the couch. She finds her way into her slippers that have started to disappear under the couch. By the time she’s on her feet, she’s almost too caught up to hear him.

“I was hoping you’d want to be more than just ‘for now.’” She freezes.

“Zuko…”

“There’s a lot I don’t know right now. But I do know that you’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me, Mai.” He rises to stand beside her, gives her that sincere look that brings out more emotion in her than any other person can.

“Some pretty bad stuff has happened to you,” she deflects, but she can’t hide her smile from him.

“Okay, fine. You got me there. But you aren’t one of them.” Zuko wraps an arm around her waist. “You know there’s a lot I’d like to leave behind.” He subconsciously raises his other hand back to the scarred left side of his face, closing his eyes. His voice drops to a whisper. “But that’ll never include you.”

Once again, Mai doesn’t know what to say. Maybe she doesn’t have to say anything. She liked it best when they could be quiet together. She lays her hand over his, and they stand there for a moment together until he lets his arm drop and her hand takes the place of his.

She touches his scar gently, not in awe or even concern. Just love.

“It won’t be the same this year,” she murmurs. “But maybe it can be even better.”

Now it’s Zuko who doesn’t have anything to say. He just grins and draws her close. She smiles into his chest, laughing a bit at the thought of her in her pajamas and him in full regalia. They stand there together in the darkened room, swaying slightly as if to music only they can hear. Somewhere in the distance, a clock strikes midnight.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Happy Holidays!


End file.
